Species occurs in Besariaka near Moramanga, Fierenana (Glaw and Vences 2007).

It is a streamside species in rainforest, including degraded forest, and open areas adjacent to forest. It is often associated with wetlands, bogs, stagnant water, and seeps, but not fast-flowing streams. It occurs from sea level up to 1600m asl (Vallan and Glaw 2008).

Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special BehaviorsHabits: Males call during the day from swamps in the flooding zone of small forest streams, in degraded forest.

Calls: A slow series of 3-8 short pulsed notes (Glaw and Vences 2007).

Trends and ThreatsThis species is listed as least concern in view of its wide distribution, tolerance of a degree of habitat modification, presumed large population, and because it is unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category. Its population is decreasing and it occurs in numerous protected areas throughout the eastern rainforest belt. Its forest habitat is receding due to subsistence agriculture, timber extraction, charcoal manufacture, and invasive spread of eucalyptus, livestock grazing and expanding human settlements (Vallan and Glaw 2008).

Possible reasons for amphibian decline

General habitat alteration and lossHabitat modification from deforestation, or logging related activitiesIntensified agriculture or grazingUrbanizationSubtle changes to necessary specialized habitat

CommentsSimilar to M. curtus, M. biporus comprises a complex of many species of quite distinct morphology, but their relationships, distribution and diagnostic characters are poorly understood. The name-giving character of the type specimens of M. biporus is a the presence of double rudiments of femoral glands in females, and of the populations studied by us, such glands have only be observed in specimens from Fierenana and near Moramanga which we therefore consider to represent the real species M. biporus.

Taken with permission from Glaw and Vences (2007) and Vallan and Glaw (2008).

References

Glaw, F., and Vences, M. (2007). Field Guide to the Amphibians and Reptiles of Madagascar. Third Edition. Vences and Glaw Verlag, Köln.

Written by Miguel Vences and Frank Glaw (m.vences AT tu-bs.de), Assistant Professor and Curator of Vertebrates at the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics in the Zoological Museum at the University of AmsterdamFirst submitted 2000-11-27Edited by Catherine Aguilar (2009-05-01)